Welcome to Litsy!

I was always a reader ,as a kid, as a teen. At one time in my life ,I was losing interest. Then I read Garp & right back in! 😄 His characters can be funny , serious,& tragic. Iriving doesn‘t shy away from cultural issues ,some that still are controversial today. He points out that tragedy & drama can be life altering ,can be random & can happen at any moment. There are always bright & heroic moments too! Thanks John Irving! #SundayFunday

#SchoolSpirit #Team John Irving was a wrestler in prep school, he also coached. An example of how your real life can inform your fiction, several of his books have characters who wrestle. Playing catch up , busy week!

#WondrousWednesday
Quote about reading or books
“Wherever the TV glows, there sits someone who isn‘t reading.” - John Irving

#TLT #ThreeListThursday In no particular order!
1. The World According to Garp- John Irving
2. The Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger polarizing, yet I love it.
3.The Go Between - L.P. Hartley a bunch of us read it in the #NYRBBookclub a treasure , more people should discover it.
Everybody play!

#LuckyInLove My #BookCrush seems to be more about an author rather than a character! 😄

This book is quite a mix of violent, absurd, humorous, thought provoking, and heart wrenching events all entwined in the story of a family and their close friends. Along with Garp and his immediate family, there are several other intriguing characters. The stories within a story add an additional layer to the reading experience as well. I absolutely look forward to more of Irving‘s writing.

#1001books #audiobook

A crazy novel that covers a lot of ground & years

30 Book Recommendations in 30 Days — Day 20 “The World According to Garp,” by John Irving. Beware the Under Toad.

Some people might say that it‘s ridiculous and over-the-top to travel more than 2,000 miles just to see their favorite author in person. Thankfully for me, I am not married to any of those people. When I said, “John Irving is going to be at the Santa Fe International Literary Festival,” my husband said, “When are we going?”

Our flight leaves on May 17, sweetie. 🙌🏼💃🏻🕺

#MarchMagic #FavoriteMaleAuthor I‘d say this one!

Comfort watch!

My intentions are strong but my will is weak… how on earth am I going to squeeze this on my bookshelf?? Blame it on charity shops!

#bookmoods #byyourfavouriteauthor
I 1st came to John Irving when I borrowed a vhs of the tagged bk, over the years Ive read everything he's produced, often with joy ,sometimes less so but always with excited anticipation + even managed to see Jeanette winteron interview him for his last bk. Definitely my favourite author although I've never reread, except again for the tagged bk, I'm scared to do so in case Owen meany isn't as joyous as my memory

Back to this crazy Garp character (and by crazy, I mean funny as hell!!) His mom isn't too lousy either. What a firecracker she is!! I still love John Irving
😍😍

#currentlyreading #today #outsidereading #coffeeandabook

#MayMoms #memorable Jenny Fields comes to mind .Wonderfully played by Glenn Close in the film !

My goals this year are to read fewer books than I did in 2021 and stop being intimidated by chunksters (500+ pages).

Total: 12
Fiction: 4
Nonfiction: 8
Chunkster: 1 (Garp, also my top read!)

#januaryreads #januarywrapup

#wondrousWednesday
1.T.S Garp from tagged
2.Maurice Swift in The Ladder to the Sky
3.Glad to relax with Litsy , I‘ve had a couple of pretty stressful weeks & it might stay that way for awhile.
Thanks for the tag @Eggs
Consider yourselves tagged , anyone can play!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It‘s hard to describe John Irving. I‘ve only read three of his books, but they‘ve all hit similarly, and in the best way. Always an oddly likable, imperfect protagonist. Bizarre moments and details that might at first feel outlandish, yet become a believable exploration of humanity. The books within the book; the Ellen Jamesians. I loved it all, especially TS Garp himself.

Finished! And yet again missing one piece. 🧩😤 This is happening too often for it to not be my dog snatching a piece out of shear meanness when he wants attention. Little shit. 😂

#audiopuzzling

🎧🧩 All the snow is making us stir crazy now, so I‘m escaping with a little puzzle time. 😅

#audiopuzzling

Oh my word. That was some ride.

Our Bookclub read Hearts Invisible Furies this year & someone (@jeg I think 🤔) said Boyne was a big fan of Irving. Now that I‘ve read my first Irving I can see the similarities.

Epic, absurd, moving and before its time in many ways. Who knew it was, in part, a book about feminism 🤷‍♀️.

Looking forward to watching the movie 🎥 🍿.

So some of you use #bookspin to choose what‘s #upnext from your mountainous #tbr piles. Some of you use challenges and #bookbingo.
I‘m going to try #bookwithinabook to choose my next read. This book was mentioned in the one I just read, Commonwealth.
It‘s been waiting patiently on my shelf and my husband tells me it‘s a #mustread book. I don‘t think I‘ve read any Irving before 🤔. #currentlyreading

#QuotsyJun21 Day 5: #Cooking

Phew! Irving tackled some tough themes in this book. I wasn't expecting that ending. 🥴

See that sploot, though? 👀

#MoviesInMay @Klou
Prompt: Robin Williams

"Maaaahm, pay attention to meeeeee."

Two seconds later, he jumped on my lap and starting licking the book pages. ?

Sitting in the car, waiting for Lucas to get his hair & beard done. 🧔

I'm obsessed with Irving's writing. I know a lot of people think he's a drag, but he draws his readers in so close to each scene that it feels like I have intimate knowledge of the characters that I shouldn't be allowed to have. He has a knack for exposing the raw truth of humanity.

I'm giving this one another shot now that I understand Irving's writing a bit better. One chapter in, and I'm hooked!

#nursesday #MagicalMay A huge thank you to all the real life nurses who are working beyond all expectations in these challenging times. My favorite fictional nurse is Jenny Fields played by Glenn
Close .This is one case where I love the movie as much as the book. The incomparable John Lithgow plays the transgender ex football player , Roberta Muldoon. I feel Irving was ahead of his time , looking at morals & ethics from more than 1 perspective.

I feel this might be an #unpopularopinion, but this book didn't feel like a great read to me! I feel like I've been reading it for 10 years. I also feel like it's been a very long time since I read something light and romantic and easy. I've got to choose a fluffy book next to cleanse my palate. This was like eating an entire roast by yourself.
(I sometimes must use a terrible analogy like this to try to get you to really feel what I feel..lol)

#7Days7Books ... Day 7
Seven books that made a deep impression and changed me.

This was the first John Irving book I ever read. My dad gave it to me because John Irving is his favorite author. I read it and also fell in love with John Irving. It‘s a wonderful thing to share a love of reading with my dad. It‘s even more special that we share our favorite author.

#7Books7Days

Thanks @Eggs for the tag
1️⃣Lawrence Block but when you get out of mystery series, John Irving, Paul Auster,Virginia Woolf,Phillip Roth , F. Scott Fitzgerald, maybe Fitzgerald ,would be closest to considering completely read.
2️⃣🙄8 tall , 8 medium and they are stuffed everywhere except the bathrooms or under the bed.
3️⃣Clumped by topic.If I have many by one author , try to clump together.
Anyone who wants to play.

#jolabokaflodswap Hey @Judybskt thank you so much for the wonderful book and chocolate!!! Can‘t wait to start it! Chocolate has already been consumed 😂😂😂

John Irving became a Canadian citizen this week. Interesting read ... @ljuliel , did you see this? We‘ll have to move to Toronto to stalk our crush!

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2019/12/13/american-writer-john-irvi...

So difficult to know how to review this book. I loved parts of it, and sometimes I didn‘t want to put it down. However there were some parts of it that were just so distasteful that I didn‘t want to read it.

Ultimately I think there was just *too* much going on; I like quirky books but this one was so loud and busy that it was too much for me. I contrast it with The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, which was quirky but quieter and I loved that one.

#weeklyforecast

I‘m not going too overboard with my reading plans for this week, the two pictured here will finish #readingUSA2019 and I‘ve still got The Romanovs on the go on my Kindle....

This is a book that oddly enough affected me emotionally because it's weirdness made me feel accepted and understood. I first read it over 20 years ago when I was in my 20s and it has withstood the test of time. The characters are bizarre and endearing and the storyline is twisted and inane, like my life.
@ljuliel

One of my favourite books from the #1970s, which I read before the film with Robin Williams.
#LetsTravelJuly

Did I need any more books? Of course I didn‘t!

But it‘s all for charity so I‘m not just thinking of myself, you see....

Actually, the top one is for #mummysquirrel and the next two are for #MiLsquirrel, so only 5 are mine...?

Not bad for a total of Qe...

#charitybookshophaul

I can‘t quite reconcile Irving‘s avowed feminism with his main female character‘s hatred of sex and his main male character‘s preoccupation with it, but I suspect that‘s my shortcoming, not Irving‘s. Garp feels realer to me than Jenny Fields right now, but I‘m not sure if it‘s because I know the book was written by a man or because of the way the characters actually are written.

Do any Irving fans or non-fans here have an opinion?

It‘s Day 19 of the @bookriot #Riotgrams Challenge! Today‘s prompt: I read this too young! Like most avid readers I know, I was allowed to read whatever I wanted from a young age. But one strong memory I have is of sitting in study hall in sixth grade, reading THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP and glancing up every few minutes, sure that someone was going to stop me, because WOW was that a lot for an 11-year-old to process. 🤣❤️📚

#30JuneBooks #J is for John Irving .Considered part of my permanent collection. The dogs are on guard!😂

There's so much goodness packed into this: memorable characters who can be both funny and affecting, surprising turns of events, and a personal favorite--fiction written by one of the characters. Irving is one of those authors who can take his time with the story, but still never fail to be interesting. After reading the this and Owen Meany, I'm all ears for recommendations on what my next one should be.
(A vibrant Undertoad is pictured here).

I read this in high school and have forgotten much of it, but there is a car accident in it that has stayed with me. I was so disturbed by it, and I still think about it sometimes when I get #behindthewheel.

#maymoviemagic
@Cinfhen @rohit-sawant

#ThrowbackThursday
My fave books from the 70‘s!

The World According to Garp by John Irving 🐻
Sophie‘s Choice by William Styron 👩‍🦱👨🏻👱🏻‍♂️

I grew up in the 70‘s and loved the books & the movies (bawled my eyes out😭📖)

#Egg 🥚👦 or #Jan&Eva 👫
Who broke your heart more?

Happy birthday to my favorite author! No, not Dr. Seuss (although he‘s pretty cool, too) — John Irving! He is 77 today. 🎂🧁

#ANewChapter #IllAlwaysLoveThisBook I love the movie too! That‘s rare.